3448. And Ahuzzath his companion, and Phicol the captain of his army. That this signifies the primaries of the doctrine of their faith, is evident from the representation of Abimelech, as being the doctrine of faith that looks to rational things; hence “his companion and the captain of his army” signify these primaries, and indeed the primaries which are of doctrine; for a “captain,” like a “prince,” signifies the things that are primary (n. 1482, 2089); and an “army” signifies the doctrinal things themselves. That an “army” signifies the doctrinal things that are of truth, or that are lower truths, is because by “warfare” in the Word, and by “war,” are signified the things that are of spiritual warfare and war (n. 1664, 1788, 2686); as also by “arms,” such as spears,” “shields,” “bows,” “arrows,” “swords,” and the like, as has been shown elsewhere. And because it is truths or doctrinal things by means of which spiritual combats are waged, therefore by “armies” these are signified; and also in the opposite sense things false or heretical.

[2] That both are signified in the Word by “armies,” may be seen from many passages, as in Daniel:

One horn of the he-goat grew exceedingly toward the south, and toward the sunrise, and toward beauty. And it grew even to the army of the heavens, and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the ground, and trampled upon them. Yea, it magnified itself, even to the Prince of the army. His army was given over with the continual sacrifice to transgression; and it cast down truth to the ground. I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said, How long shall be this vision, the continual sacrifice, and the transgression that wasteth, to give both the sanctuary and the army to be trampled down? (Daniel 8:9-13).

The “horn which grew toward the south, toward the sunrise, and toward beauty,” is the power of falsity from evil (n. 2832); the “armies of the heavens” are truths; the “Prince of the army” is the Lord as to Divine truth; and because in a good sense an “army” is truth, it is said that the horn “cast down of the army to the ground,” and afterwards that it “cast truth to the ground.”

[3] Again:

The king of the north ¹ shall set forth a multitude greater than the former, and he shall come on at the end of the times of years, coming with a great army, and with much substance. And he shall stir up his power and his heart against the king of the south, with a great army; and the king of the south shall war in battle with an exceeding great and mighty army; but he shall not stand, for they that eat of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall overflow; and many shall fall down slain (Daniel 11:13, 25-26).

The subject of this whole chapter is the war between the king of the north and the king of the south; and by the “king of the north” are meant falsities, as also by his “army;” and by the “king of the south” and his “army” are meant truths: it is a prophecy of the vastation of the church.

[4] In John:

I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood. And his armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army (Revelation 19:11, 13-14, 19);

“he that sat upon the white horse” denotes the Lord’s Word, or the Lord as to the Word (n. 2760-2762); “his armies in heaven that followed him” denote the truths therefrom, consequently those in heaven who are in truths; the “beast” denotes the evils of the love of self; the “kings of the earth and their armies” denote falsities. The combats of falsity with truth are what are here described.

[5] In David:

By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the army of them by the breath of His mouth (Psalms 33:6).

The “army of them,” or of the heavens, denotes truths. Because truths are signified by an “army,” the sons of the kingdom and the angels, from the truths in which they are, are called the “army of the heavens” as in Luke:

Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God (Luke 2:13).

In David:

Bless Jehovah, all ye His armies, ye ministers of His that do His will (Psalms 103:21).

Praise ye him all His angels; praise ye Him all His army (Psalms 148:2).

In Isaiah:

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these; He that bringeth out their army by number. He calleth them all by name; of the multitude of the powerful and of the mighty not a man is lacking (Isaiah 40:26).

I have made the earth and created man upon it; I, My hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their army have I commanded (Isaiah 45:12); where the “army of the heavens” denotes truths, thus the angels, because they are in truths, as has been shown.

[6] In the first book of Kings:

I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the army of the heavens standing by Him on His right hand and on His left (1 Kings 22:19).

In Joel:

Jehovah uttereth His voice before His army; for His camp is very great; for he is strong that doeth His word (Joel 2:11).

In Zechariah:

I will encamp about My house against the army that passeth through and returneth, and no exactor shall pass through them any more. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; make a loud noise, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold thy King cometh unto thee (Zech. 9:8-9); where the coming of the Lord is treated of; his “army” denotes truths Divine. It is from this and also because the Lord alone fights for man against the hells which are in the continual effort to assault him, that in the Word the Lord is so often called “Jehovah Zebaoth,” “God Zebaoth,” the “Lord Zebaoth,” that is, “of armies” as in Isaiah:

The voice of a tumult of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together; Jehovah Zebaoth mustereth the army for the battle (Isaiah 13:4);

“the kingdoms of the nations” denote falsities from evils; “mustering the army for the battle” denotes fighting for man.

[7] Inasmuch as the twelve tribes of Israel represented the Lord’s heavenly kingdom, and “tribes” and likewise “twelve” signified all things of faith in one complex, that is, all truths of the kingdom (n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272), therefore also they were called the “armies of Jehovah;” as in Exodus 7:4; 12:17, 41, 51; and it was commanded that they should be brought out of Egypt “according to their armies” (Exodus 6:26); and should mete out the camp “according to their armies” (Numbers 1:52); and should be distributed into their “armies” (Numbers 2).

[8] That by “armies” are signified truths, is evident also in Ezekiel:

Persia and Lud and Put were in thine army, thy men of war; they hanged the shield and the helmet in thee, they set forth thine honor; the sons of Arvad and thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadim were in thy towers (Ezekiel 27:10-11);

speaking of Tyre, by which are signified the interior knowledges of good and truth, and thus those who are therein (n. 1201); “army” denotes the truths themselves; that “Lud and Put” are also those who are in knowledges may be seen above (n. 1163, 1164, 1166, 1195, 1231); “shield and helmet” are such things as pertain to spiritual combat or war.

[9] That in the opposite sense “armies” signify falsities, is manifest in Isaiah:

It shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall visit upon the army of the height in the height, and upon the kings of the earth upon the earth (Isaiah 24:21); where the “armies of the height” denote falsities from the love of self.

In Ezekiel:

I will bring thee back, and put hooks in thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them completely clad, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords. Thou shalt come from thy place out of the sides to the north, thou and many peoples with thee, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army (Ezekiel 38:4, 15);

speaking of Gog, by whom is signified external worship separate from internal, thus become idolatrous (n. 1151); his “army” denotes falsities.

[10] In Jeremiah:

I will send against Babylon him that bendeth, bending his bow, and lifting up himself in his coat of mail; spare ye not her young men, give to the curse all her army (Jeremiah 51:2-3);

“Babylon” denotes worship the externals of which appear holy, but the interiors are profane (n. 1182, 1283, 1295, 1304, 1306-1308, 1321, 1322, 1326); “her army” is the falsities of such profane interiors, as in like manner the “army of Babylon” in other passages (as Jeremiah 32:2; 34:1, 21; 39:1).

In Ezekiel:

Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword. For I will put the terror of Me in the land of the living (Ezekiel 32:31-32);

speaking of Egypt, by which are signified those who pervert truths by reasonings from memory-knowledges (n. 1164, 1165); “his army,” or the army of Pharaoh, denotes falsities therefrom; the like is also signified by the “army of Pharaoh” in other passages (as Jeremiah 37:5, 7, 11; 46:2; Ezekiel 17:17).

In Luke:

When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand (Luke 21:20); where the consummation of the age is treated of, or the last time of the church, when there is no longer any faith. That by “Jerusalem” is signified the church, see above (n. 2117), which is “compassed with armies” when it is beset by falsities.

[11] Hence it is evident that by the “armies of the heavens” which the Jews and idolaters adored, in the internal sense were signified falsities, concerning which in the second book of Kings:

They forsook all the commandments of their God, and made them a molten image, even two calves, and made a grove, and bowed themselves down to all the army of the heavens (2 Kings 17:16).

This is said of the Israelites; and in another place it is written concerning Manasseh that:

He built altars for all the army of the heavens (2 Kings 21:5);

and again that:

Josiah the king brought forth out of the temple all the vessels made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the army of the heavens (2 Kings 23:4);

and in Jeremiah, that:

They should bring out the bones of the princes, of the priests, and of the prophets, and should spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the army of the heavens, which they have loved, and which they have served, and after which they have walked (Jeremiah 8:1-2

The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be unclean like Tophet, as to all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the army of the heavens, and have poured out drink-offerings unto other gods (Jeremiah 19:13).

And in Zephaniah:

I will stretch out Mine hand against them that worship the army of the heavens upon the roofs (Zeph. 1:4-5);

for it is principally the stars that are called the “army of the heavens;” and that by the “stars” are signified truths, and in the opposite sense falsities, may be seen above (n. 1128, 1808).

Fußnoten:

1808. And number the stars. That this signifies a representation of what is good and true in a mental view of the constellations, is evident from what has just been said; and also from the representation and signification of “the stars,” as being things good and true. The “stars” are frequently mentioned in the Word, and everywhere they signify things good and true, and also, in the contrary sense, things evil and false; or what is the same, they signify angels or societies of angels, and also in the contrary sense evil spirits and their associations. When they signify angels or societies of angels, they are then fixed stars; but when evil spirits and their associations, they are wandering stars, as I have very frequently seen.

[2] That all things in the skies and on the earth are representative of celestial and spiritual things, has been evidenced by this plain indication, that things similar to those which appear before the eyes in the sky and on the earth, are also presented to view in the world of spirits, and this as plainly as in clear day; and there they are nothing but representatives. For instance, when the starry heaven appears, and the stars therein are fixed, it is instantly known that they signify things good and true; and when the stars appear wandering, it is instantly known that they signify things evil and false. From the very glow and sparkle of the stars it may also be known of what kind they are; besides numberless other things. Hence, if one is willing to think wisely, he may know what is the origin of all things on the earth, namely, that it is the Lord; and the reason why they come forth on the earth not ideally but actually, is that all things, both celestial and spiritual, which are from the Lord, are living and essential, or as they are called substantial, and therefore they come forth into actual existence in ultimate nature (see n. 1632).

[3] That the stars represent and signify things good and true, may be seen from the following passages in the Word.

In Isaiah:

The stars of the heavens and the constellations thereof shine not with their light; the sun has been darkened in his going forth, and the moon doth not cause her light to shine; and I will visit evil upon the world, and their iniquity upon the wicked (Isaiah 13:10-11); where the day of visitation is treated of. Everyone can see that by “the stars” and “constellations” here are not meant the stars and constellations, but things true and good; and by “the sun,” love; and by “the moon,” faith; for the evils and falsities which cause darkness are treated of.

[4] In Ezekiel:

When I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens, and make the stars thereof black; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine; all the luminaries of light I will make black over thee, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel 32:7-8),

where the meaning is similar.

In Joel:

The earth quaked before Him, the heavens trembled, the sun and the moon were blackened, and the stars withdrew their shining (Joel 2:10; 3:15),

where the meaning is similar.

In David:

Praise Jehovah, sun and moon; praise Him, all ye stars of light; praise Him, ye heavens of heavens (Psalms 148:3-4),

meaning the same.

[5] That by the “stars” are not meant the stars, but things good and true, or what is the same, those who are in things good and true, as the angels are, is plainly said in John:

I saw the Son of man; and He had in His right hand seven stars. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest upon My right hand, and the seven candlesticks: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches (Revelation 1:13, 16, 20).

[6] Again:

The fourth angel sounded, so that the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day shone not for the third part of it, and the night in like manner (Revelation 8:12),

where it is clearly evident that what is good and true was darkened.

In Daniel:

There came forth a little horn, which grew exceedingly toward the south and toward the east and toward adornment [decus]; and it grew even to the army of the heavens; and some of the army and of the stars it cast down to the earth, and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:9-10),

which words plainly show that “the army of the heavens” and “the stars” are things good and true, which were trampled upon.

[7] From these passages may be seen what is meant by the words of the Lord in Matthew:

In the consummation of the age, immediately after the affliction of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken (Matthew 24:29).

And in Luke:

There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations in despair, the sea and the waves roaring (Luke 21:25); where by “the sun” the sun is not meant at all, nor by “the moon” the moon, nor by “the stars” the stars, nor by “the sea” the sea; but the things which they represent, namely, by “the sun” the celestial things of love, by “the moon” the spiritual things, by “the stars” things good and true, that is, the knowledges of what is good and true, which are thus darkened near the consummation of the age, when there is no faith, that is, no charity.